Poindexter
An old surname of Norman-French origin, probably meaning “right fist” or “spurring the steed,” though the exact origin is debated.
The #3,129 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,775 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is traditionally explained from Norman-French elements. One line of explanation takes it as related to words for “to spur” and “steed,” giving a sense like “spur the horse” or “hotspur.” Another early interpretation links it with French poing dextre / poing dextre-type forms, literally “right fist,” which would make it a nickname rather than a job-name. Because historical explanations differ, the safest reading is that it began as a medieval French descriptive nickname.
History
The name is old in Norman-French and appears in English records after the Norman period. It later survived in Britain and, especially, in the United States, where it became established as a recognizable surname. Early writers sometimes tried to connect it with heraldic or symbolic meanings, but later scholarship has treated the form more cautiously.
Origin
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Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century writers tried to read it as a heraldic phrase, but later commentators preferred a literal nickname meaning, especially “right fist.”
From the historical record
“some rustic rhymer. POINDEXTER. " This name does not signify ' the right hand,' as might easily be imagined, but is an old Norman name, signifying Spur the Steed, and analogous to Hotspur. It comes from two old words, Avhich 'Wace often uses in the Roman de Ron; the first meaning 'to spur,' from the Latin^??fw^o…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom